‘Three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral. But one of us was in the coffin.’
NOMINATED FOR CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2020
LITTLE CRUELTIES
From the award-winning author of the No 1 bestseller, Unravelling Oliver, comes another absorbing, twisty, brilliantly observed story.
Will, Brian and Luke grow up competing for their mother's unequal love. As men, the competition continues - for status, money, fame, women…
They each betray each other, over and over, until one of them is murdered.
But which one?
“Brilliantly observed family life and a plot that is part rollercoaster, part maze. Loved it!”
— Graham Norton
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“MAGNIFICENT. Her best yet, and that's really saying something”
— Marian Keyes
“A dark jewel of a novel - finely observed, swift and exciting”
— AJ Finn
“Liz Nugent has a gift for filling us with a terrible fascination for truly horrible people”
— Val McDermid
'Our Little Cruelties' is published in Ireland, UK and elsewhere by Penguin Ireland
Published as 'Little Cruelties' in the USA by Simon & Schuster
Published as 'Little Cruelties' in Canada by Simon & Schuster
US and Canadian paperback cover
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“Evocative, vivid, brilliant storytelling from a novelist of powerful gifts”
“‘Liz Nugent is a force to be reckoned with’”
“An uncanny ability to get under the skin of characters ... nobody is a mere cliché in Nugent's clear, propulsive writing”
— Sunday Times
“What a terrific storyteller Liz Nugent is! Brilliantly structured, fluently told, rich in unsettling incident and pulsing with dark, tumultuous energy ... her best book yet”
— Irish Times
“Fascinating ... Shows how thoroughly families can mess one another up, and how sometimes the greatest mysteries are found within the psyche”
— New York Times
“Captivating ... A contemporary psychological thriller that will leave you wondering if you ever really know what someone else is thinking - or what goes on behind closed doors”
— Sunday Independent
“A masterful interrogation of a family's undoing ... and a ruthless examination of the pieces left behind”
— Sunday Business Post
“A twisted thriller, reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith”
— The Guardian
“Dramatic and compelling ... a whodunit and a Greek tragedy all in one ... absolutely riveting”
— Irish Independent
“Utterly compelling- full of terrible people doing terrible things, and I could not have enjoyed it more”
“Smart, artful and totally gripping…LOVED IT.”
— Will Dean
“Astute, deliciously dark and engaging”
— Jo Spain
“Creepy, compelling and totally addictive.”
— Erin Kelly
“This is by anyone's standards a brilliantly written novel. Highly original, with exceptionally well-drawn characters… The brilliance of this novel lies in the way it is told by each brother in turn leading to the eventual denouement.”
— SHOTS Crime and Thriller E-Zine
“A sizzling thriller”
— Heat Magazine
“Nugent excels at creating a shocking story of a horrible family with huge issues and complexities that keep you hooked to the end”
— RTE Guide
“The narcissist mother and her objectionable three sons will draw you into their tangled tale of jealousy and sibling rivalry.”
— The Daily Mail
“There are few books I’ve read in my lifetime that have kept me guessing what the outcome of its story will be right to the very end, but the new release from Liz Nugent, ‘Our Little Cruelties’ managed to do just that. The way the story unfolds means readers will likely lose themselves in it, perhaps devouring the book in one sitting, desperate to uncover the well-hidden truth, via the final on-the-edge-of-your-seat few pages. ”
“Thrilling, twisty, and darkly fascinating”
“Cruelties riveting from start to finish.”
“Dark, beautiful devastating- pure genius.”
— Lucy Foley
“Shot through with black humour, toxic truths and pathos.”
— Sarah Hilary
“Wonderfully tense and gripping….a total page turner.. loved every word of it”
— Dame Fiona Kidman
“Brilliant…gripping, occasionally horrifying and utterly entertaining.”